I was first employed as an electronics technicaian back in 1976. I was soon introduced to both the solder sucker and solder wick. I found the solder sucker to be most useful to me in most situations. I didn't like the solder wick as much, but that is just me. I havent used either at work for some time as I mov to engineering about 8 years ago, but still have both at home.
back to Jim's original message. I have used component leads for the same purpose as the toothpick. I never thought of the toothpick, but that would work great, if one doesnt do enough soldering to want to invest in either of the other items.
